1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to games of skill and sport, and finds particular utility in the game of hockey, which is played indoors or outdoors on a flat surface of ice or other material.
2. Background of the Invention
Ice hockey is played with a high density rubberized puck. The mass of the puck and its smooth faces are features that allow it to glide with little resistance on ice. While the smooth texture of the faces creates little friction with the ice, the mass of the puck and its high inertia permit it to stay in motion in a straight line and resist external forces acting upon it. Since the puck is shaped as a disk, it tends to glide over the surface on either of its flat sides. By skillfully playing it with a stick, i.e., hockey stick, it can be made to fly through the air along straight or curved paths.
Street hockey is a form of hockey played outside on an asphalt or concrete surface such as a street. Floor hockey my be played inside on the floor of a gymnasium. since a heavy rubber ice hockey puck would tend to stick to, rather than glide across, a street or gym floor, pucks used for street or floor hockey are typically lighter or have a different texture or shape than the disk-like ice hockey puck. For example, light plastic hollow disks or balls such as tennis or rubber balls frequently serve as pucks when the game of hockey is played off the ice.
A problem with plastic disks is that they usually have a high degree of friction with asphalt or concrete surfaces and gym floors unless they are made of very light-weight materials. In contrast to an ice hockey puck, a plastic disk's distance of travel and speed is significantly less for a given amount of force applied by a hockey stick. Passes between teammates and shots on goal are shorter and slower than in ice hockey. Even though the initial speed of a plastic disk hit by a stick may be high, the plastic disk's speed decreases as resistance is created between it and the surface on which it is traveling. Hence the "fastest game on ice" is reduced to a game with a different "feel," in which the amount and type of resistance encountered by the plastic disk is a major factor in the outcome.
Another problem with plastic pucks is that they frequently have little mass. They are thus deflected easily by stones on an asphalt surface or small irregularities on a gym floor. Furthermore, when hit by a hockey stick, they may fly into the air and behave like flying saucers with unpredictable directional changes. Hockey, on ice a game of skill, is thereby turned into a game of chance.
Still another problem with street hockey pucks is that they interact poorly with hockey sticks. When an ice hockey player is stick-handling a puck, his eyesare on the field of play rather than the puck. He knows the position of the puck because he can feel the heavy mass through the stick. In contrast, light plastic disks are difficult to control. Since the feel of a plastic disk through a hockey stick is soft, a player's eyes are on the disk when they should be on the action forming on the field. Furthermore, the plastic texture of a plastic disk tends to slip on a hockey stick even if the blade is covered with rubberized tape. With a rubberized ice hockey puck, a controlled spin may be applied by the blade so that the puck may travel in an arc around the goalie and into the net.
Even heavy rubber balls interact poorly with hockey sticks. Although the location of a heavy ball may be easier to ascertain without eye contact than a plastic disk, a ball is difficult to control because it bounces readily over the relatively narrow blade of a hockey stick in stick-handling maneuvers.
Still another problem with plastic disks is that they have little or no resiliency. When a hockey stick blade contacts a rubberized ice hockey puck, especially on a slap shot, the puck is compressed. As the puck leaves the blade, it decompresses and thereby gains energy for its forward motion. Moreover, the resiliency of the ice hockey puck makes it durable. In contrast, plastic disks may become permanently dented and nonfunctional when hit hard by a hockey stick. At the other extreme, rubber balls are too compressible and may absorb too much energy from a hockey stick to be hit at high speeds.